Normally, a deputy peak master held a higher position than Si Geng.
However, times had changed. Xu Changqing had created the Four Seasons Heavenly Craft Manual, which was of vital importance to the entire Immortal Sect and could be said to have remade it from the marrow out.
What was more, his daughter was True Lord Mo's personal disciple, his son was the Yin-Yang Venerable's personal disciple, and he himself was the sixth disciple of the Immortal Sect's newly ascended Spirit Transformation Venerable.
All of that combined had invisibly elevated his status, identity, and background by quite a lot.
Xu Changqing laughed heartily, rose, and returned the greeting. "Deputy Peak Master Ling."
Though it was the same meeting, Ling Shuang gave Xu Changqing an equal clasped-fist salute.
Xu Changqing returned it politely.
Yet Chu Qiu treated Ling Shuang with the respect a disciple showed a master.
The attitudes and positions of the three formed a stark contrast.
Chu Qiu's hand tightened slightly at that moment, and his heart was filled with a thousand tangled flavors.
Back then, he had been the foremost Formal Disciple of Beast Spirit Valley. Later, he had entered Ling Shuang's tutelage and become a core disciple, with a future as bright as daylight.
Meanwhile, Xu Changqing had only been an inconspicuous Spirit Farmer.
But who could have imagined that after several decades, their circumstances would be as far apart as heaven and earth?
Xu Changqing now occupied a lofty position and could stand on equal footing with his master, while he himself was still merely one of Ling Shuang's disciples. It was rather awkward to behold.
Xu Changqing noticed that something was off with Chu Qiu, but pretended not to see it and asked instead, "Deputy Peak Master Ling, did you come looking for me, or